Answer :
After attending Black Mountain College and interacting with John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg began investigating the relationship between art and life, or art and non-art option 2).
Robert Rauschenberg's tenure at Black Mountain College proved pivotal in shaping his artistic direction. During this period, influenced heavily by the avant-garde approaches of John Cage and others, Rauschenberg shifted his focus from traditional art forms towards a more experimental approach. This was characterized by an exploration of how everyday objects could be incorporated into art, fundamentally questioning what art could be.
The primary consequence of Rauschenberg's interaction with Cage was his departure from conventional painting towards the integration of non-traditional materials and objects. He began to blur the boundaries between art and life, as seen in his "Combines" of the 1950s, where he used materials like quilts, tires, and newspaper clippings as integral components of his artwork. This approach was radically different from abstract painting or traditional sculpture, emphasizing the concept of bringing the real world into the art space.
Rauschenberg's work post-Black Mountain College exemplified a new philosophy of intertwining art with everyday life, making him a crucial figure in the development of postmodern art. His pioneering efforts in merging art and non-art elements paved the way for later movements such as Pop Art and Conceptual Art, which further explored the ideas he developed during and after his transformative years at Black Mountain College.
2) began investigating the relationship between art and life, or art and non-art.